Bad light and rain claim the majority of day two

Kent moved to 122 for seven on day two of their LV= Insurance County Championship match with Sussex at Canterbury, cutting the visitors lead to 59 on a day when just an hour and 20 minutes of play was possible. 

Jamie Atkins has four for 31 after taking one of the two wickets to fall, while Sean Hunt has one for 23 after removing Kent’s top scorer, Harry Podmore, for 37. 

Kent’s already depleted squad endured another withdrawal when first-team bowler Nathan Gilchrist, who took two for 24 during Sussex’s first innings, was told to self-isolate, earning a call-up for Bailey Wightman, who became the sixth Kent debutant of the match. 

The start was delayed until 2.15 pm thanks to a damp outfield, by which point dark clouds were already rolling in. 

After a chaotic start to Canterbury Week on Sunday, when 14 members of the first-team squad were forced to isolate after an unnamed player tested positive for COVID, the hosts resumed on 69 for five, trailing by 112. 

They lost Harry Finch to the third ball of the day, lbw for 24 to Atkins, but rallied, thanks to a stand of fifty for the seventh wicket between Podmore and Hamid Qadri.  

.@seanhunt139 gets in on the action! 🙌 #gosbts @JamieAtkins2005 4⃣
Ollie Robinson 2⃣@seanhunt139 1⃣ pic.twitter.com/871SMYo3wA

— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) July 12, 2021

Podmore was dropped on seven and 14, but responded with a controlled but punchy innings of 37 that included a six over cow corner before he was caught by Oliver Carter off Hunt. 

Qadri had moved to 12 not out from 46 balls when bad light stopped play at 3.35pm, with Wightman unbeaten on nought, having faced four balls. 

With rain falling and no prospect of improvement, the umpires abandoned play for the day at 4.50 pm. 

Watch all of the highlights from day two here: